By Joe Segura, Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif. Jul. 4--If you haven't seen Ryan Smolar making the rounds at Long Beach City Hall or the Arts Village, it's most likely you don't frequent those spots.

By John Canalis It may be landlocked, but Orange County considers Rossmoor an "island." That is because the 50-year-old subdivision of ribboned roads, rambling ranch houses and enviable schools is not a city, but an unincorporated area that receives core services from the county seat in Santa Ana and a tiny on-site agency with a few employees.

Word of the Day

pawl

A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.